“Any man can be a father
but it takes someone special to be a dad.”
-Anne Geddes
With Father’s Day coming up in a few days, I wanted to write to all of you adoptive dads-to-be. You’ll be celebrating Father’s Day yourself just a short while from now!
“I talk and talk and talk, and I haven’t taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week.”
-Mario Cuomo
The role you’re about to have is one of the most influential roles you’ll ever have. And it starts long before your baby has been placed in your arms.
Your future son will mirror your actions as their father, and watch your every move for guidance to help make him into the man he’ll become. And your future daughter will watch you as her role model to help out when she chooses the boys to date and the type of man she’ll marry.
Clarence Budington Kelland said, “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” Consider what your children will observe from you.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? I hope not. It is a big responsibility, so remember that God is on your side. He wants to guide and inspire you to become the father and husband He wants you to be.
Father’s Day is a great time to pray about the areas of improvement you might have. The Lord will lead you to your children who’ll look to you for guidance and trust their little lives in your hands. You’ll become an instrument which God uses in their lives.
So how do you grow into the best father and role model possible? By making God your teacher, and recognizing that His authority should rule everything you do. As a dad, one of your duties will be to teach your children Scripture and love and kindness for their mother.
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.”
-Proverbs 22:6
The habits you’re forming today become the qualities in building your future child’s hero. I encourage you never to give up and to remember the important role you’ll play in your child’s life. When you feel doubt, turn to God for direction. My prayer for you, the adoptive dads-to-be, is that you have strength and faith in your path towards becoming a Godly father.
God bless you and know we are praying for you and your adoption,
Mardie Caldwell
Founder of Lifetime Adoption, adoptive mom, adoption expert, and Certified Open Adoption Practitioner (C.O.A.P).
Since 1986, adoption expert Mardie Caldwell has been dedicated to bringing couples and birth parents together in order to fulfill their dreams.
“Many years ago, I was also searching for a child to adopt. We didn’t know where or how to get started. Through research, determination, and a prayer, our dream of a family became reality. I started with a plan, a notebook, assistance from a caring adoption consultant and a lot of hard work; this was my family I was building. We had a few heartaches along the way, but the pain of not having children was worse!
Within weeks we had three different birth mothers choose us. We were overwhelmed and delighted. Many unsettling events would take place before our adoption would be finalized, many months later. Little did I know that God was training and aligning me for the adoption work I now do today. It is my goal to share with our families the methods and plans which succeed and do not succeed. I believe adoption should be affordable and can be a wonderful “pregnancy” for the adoptive couple.
I have also been on both sides of infertility with the loss of seven pregnancies and then conceiving by new technology, giving birth to a healthy daughter. I have experienced first-hand the emotional pain of infertility and believe my experience allows me to serve your needs better.
It is my hope that for you, the prospective parents, your desire for a child will be fulfilled soon.”